Carbureter.



L. S. GARDNER.v

CARBURETER.

APPBICATION FILED APR.10,1911.

1 1 72,701 v Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

Q Q INVENTOR UNITED sTATEs P TENT OFFICE.

LEVI, S. GARDNER, F SHREVEPOR'I, IJOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO GARDNER CARBURETOR & BRASS WORKS, 015 SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA, A CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA.

CARBURETER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

Application filed April 10, 1911. Serial No 620,222.

the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others-skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its primary object to produce a 'carbureter by which the proper proportion between the air and the-gasolene will always be maintained regardless of the demand upon the carbureter.

In accordance with my invention'l make use of a plurality of individual vaporizing units and control them in such a manner that one unit after another will be brought into action automatically as required, the

number of units in action again decreasing automatically as the demand decreases. Each unit is so constructed that 1t -Wlll afford a supply of air and combustible within predetermined limits. the ratio between the.

air and the combustible being varied automatically as the demand upon the unit varies. Consequently I am enabled to construct a carbureter of any desired capacity by simply assembling the required number of units together. Therefore, my invention, viewed in one aspect. may be regarded as comprising a novel form of carbureter made up of a series of individual units. the capacwith a preferred form of my invention; Fig.-

2 is a bottom plan view of the carbureter shown in Fig. l. i

In the drawings Ihave illustrated a car;

bureter in which seven independent units are assembled together in one structure. I desire to have it understood, however, that the number of nits may be varied within any desired limits.

Furthermore, one of the features ofmy invention consists in the .constructionof an individual unit and therefore I do not wish to limit myselfin all cases to the use of a plurality of units.

Referring to the drawings. 1 represents a casing of any suitable construction, it being preferably in the form of a cylinder as shown. to form the top and bottom of the casing. Two seriesof registering openings, 2 and 3, are formed in the top and bottom of the casing, the openings of each series being distributed symmetrically about the axis of the casing. Within these openings, and, extend ing'through the casing from the top to the bottom, I secure a series of vaporizing units- 4. The space within the casing and surrounding the vaporizing units comprises a float chamber which s adapted, to contain a supply of gasolehe or other liquid fuel. A fuel supply pipe 5 opens into the bottom of the casing, preferably at the center thereof, and, if"desired, a suitable trap 6 may be interposed between the pipe and the casing. The :i-nlet port 7 is controlled by the usual valvef8 actuated by afloat 9. The top wall of the casing may be provided with a central opening 10 large enough to permit the float to be introduced, the opening being normally closed by a cap 'or cover 11. The valve 8 may be guided in a suitable bearing formed in a downwardly projecting hub 12 on the cap or cover. The valvemay be controlled in the usual manner by means of levers 13 which rest at their outer ends upon the float, are connected at their inner ends to the valve 8, and are pivoted at points between their ends to brackets or ears l4 projecting liquiddrops slightly, the float is lowerert correspondingly and the valve again opens to admit more liquid.

While I have described in some detail the means for controlling the inflow of .com-

The cylinder is closed at its ends I bustible into the float chamber, I do not desire to be limited. to any particular means for accomplishing this puropse, since my invention contemplates the use of any usual or units or such of them as may happen to be in operation at the time. To this end I make each of the units in the form of an openended shell which has a small port or passage 15 extending through the wall thereof.

Consequently when air is drawn upward through one'of the units, it produces a flow of combustible from the float chamber into the interior of the unit, where a mixture between the air and the combustible is eii'ected. Ineach unit there are two valves 16 and 17, the valve 16 being located above the outlet end of the passage 15' and the valve 17 being located below the outlet end of this passage. The two valves are mounted upon a single stem 18 which is guided within suitable bearings 19 and 2.0 so as to be free to move axially of the unit. It will be seen that the lower valve controls the amount of air which is drawn into the unit while the upper valve controls the quantity of mixed air and fuel.

which passes upwardly out of the unit. Each valve lies within a suitable chamber, the sides of'which diverge from the bottom toward the top,as indicated at 21. and 22 respectively, so that as the valves are lifted,- the effective valve openings are increased. The walls of the chamber 21 are preferably tapered more than the walls of the other chamber so that the upper valve opening increases in size somewhat more rapidly than the lower valve opening as the valves are lifted. \Vhen a partial vacuum is formed in the carbureter above the. upper valve, the two valves are lifted, a partial vacuum is formed in the chamber between the two valves, causing liquid fuel to be drawn in through the passa 15 and air to pass up around the valve 1%. The resulting mixture of fuel and air passes up around the valve 16 and to the engine in the manner to be hereinafter described". As the valves are lifted more and more, the quantity of combustible which is drawn in must increase in order to maintain the proper mixture and this is provided for by the more rapidly increasing valve. opening about the upper valve. Consequently the proper proportion between the air and the combustible may be maitnained at all times," regardless of the volume of air which is drawn through the unit. i

the inner walls of all of the compartments.

Aseries of openings or ports 26, arranged within the wall of themember 25, connect the several compartments 24 with the space inclosed by the member There is at least one port for each compartment and the ports are arranged at various elevations so that 110 two of them are in the same horizontal plane. In the arrangement shown, the ports are distributed about the member 25 in theform of a spiral or a single turn of a helix; but any other arrangement, which brings the ports into different horizontal plane s, may beemployed. In accordance. with my invention I provide means for controlling the ports 26 so that any number of themmay be opened at any given time, in this way cutting some or all. of the vaporizing units out of action. The control. of the ports 26 may be both automatic and manual; the manual control providing for themaximum number of units which may be brought into play at any time and the automatic control regulating the number below this maximum as the demand by the engine varies. The means for controlling the ports may conveniently consist of a hollow cylindrical valve 27 which has a sliding fit within the cylindrical member 25. l The cylindrical valve is open at the bottom and closed at the top and near the top it is provided with one.

or more openings 28 extending through the sides thercof. It will be seen that when the cylindrical valve rests upon the casing 1. all of the ports 26 are closed. The ports or openings 28 are so located that when the valve is in its lowermost position these ports are closed by the surrounding cylindrical member. The upper end-of the member 25 terminates in a .member 29 which is adapted to be connected to the intake pipe of an engine.

Assuming that the member 29 is connected to an engine which is in operation: then upon the intake stroke of the engine a partial vacuum will be formed above the cylindrical valve 27 and this valve will be lifted. As soon as the valve begins toliit it 27 and out of-the ports or openings 28 to the engine. In passing through the vapor-' izing unit, the air takes up aquantity of combustible so that it is the resulting mixture of air and fuel which passes to theengine. If the engine is running slowly, the

demand for air and fuel may be supplied by a single vaporizing unit. speed of the engine increases, the demand becomes greater and the valve is lifted higher and higher, opening one port after another, until sufficient units have been cut in to satisfy the engine. If the engine becomes heavily loaded so as to reduce its speed. its capacity for receiving the mixture of fuel and air decreases and therefore the master valve 27 descends until enough of the ports 26 are closed to leave only the proper number of vaporizing units in action, thereby permitting the engine to receive the proper volume of gaseous mixture without destroying or interfering with the proper proportioning between the fuel and air. In this way the master valve, controlled by the suction of the engine, automatically controls the charge to meet the requirements at any given time The automatic control-which I haveljust; described regulates the incoming charge to the-needs of the engine but does not of itself regulate the engine speed. In order that the speed of the engine may be controlled,

so as to prevent-the engine from running faster than is desired, I have provided manual means for governing the operation of the master valve. I accomplish this by providing a device which will determine the height to which the master valve may be lifted. This device may conveniently consist of a stem 30 which is screw-threaded into the member 29 directly above the master valve and is provided. with a suitable handle 31- whereby it may be turned. By

.-turning the handle 31, the stem may be screwed in far enoughto engage with the valve when the latter is in its lowermost position and prevent the valve from being opened. By screwing the stem in or out the point at which the master valve will engage therewith is varied so that the valve may be brought to rest in its upward movement whenever it has opened any desired number of the inlet ports 26. IVhenever the regulating stem is set in any given position, the master valve can cut\in only as many ofthe vaporizing units as determined by the regulating member. However the automatic control of the master valve may take .place in the manner that I have already de-.

scribed so that the number of vaporizing units in action'at any time may be less than the possible maximum, depending upon the load on the engine.

There are several detailed features which I have not as yet described and which add .to the convenience of manufacture and adjustment and to the efiiciency of the can;

bureter. One of these features consists in flaring the mouth ofthe cylindrical member 25, as indicated at 32, this .flaring por- 'tion extending above the upper ends of the However, as the ports 28 when the master valve is down. As the master valve rises, a very gradual increase in' the valve opening takes place so that the valve may be lifted through a conthe main casing and providing the sleeves or shells of the vaporizing units with corresponding screw-threads 33. Each unit may therefore be inserted into position from below and-secured in place by simply turning it with a proper tool. F urthermore, whenever it is desired to clean or repair one of the'units it may be removed by simply unscrewing i't. I prefer to provide a head 34 on the lower end of each of the sleeves, this serving to receive a wrench and acting also as a shoulder to engage the underside of the casing around the screw-threaded opening and thus produce a tight joint. In or der that the flaring walls of the chambersv 21 and-22 in the sleeves may be accurately machined, I prefer so to construct the units that'the bearing members 19 and 20 may be detached. I furthermore desire to haveat least one of these bearing members detachable in order that the double valve may be placed in. position and removed easily.

To this end, I mount the bearing member 20 upon a ring 35 which is screw-threaded into the loweren-d of the sleeve or shell of the unit, while the bearing member 19 is carried by a bushing 36 which fits around simply constructing a shell and the accompanying; parts large enough to receive the requisite number of units. Considering the carbureter as a whole, it will be seen that I have provided a simple regulating means for limiting'th'e ultimate speed ofvthe en gine to which the carbureter is attached and Y for maintaining the proper supply of combustible mixture containing the most advantageous proportion between the air and the combustible component at allspeeds-of the engine.

While I have. illustrated and described only a single preferredform of my invention and have explained with considerable particularity all of the structural details of this specific form, I do not desire to be lim ited to this one form. or even to a carbureter embodying all of the several-novel features of my invention; but intend to cover'all constructions and arrangements which fall within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carbureter having an outlet, a plurality of carbureting units and separate passages leading from'said units to the outlet; a. valve device governed by the suction on the carbureter and arranged to open a varying number of said. passages depending upon the position of the device, and manually controlled means for limiting the range of said valve device.

2. A carbureter comprising a plurality of independent carbureting units, each unit including means governed'by the suction on the carbureter for regulating the amount of combustible, and means governed by the suction on the carbureter for varying the effective number of suchunits.

3. A carbureter comprising a pluralityof independent carbureting units, eachunit including means governed by the suction on the carbureter for regulating the amount of combustible, means governed by the suction on the carbureter for varying the efi'ective number of such units, and adjustable manually controlled means for determining the maximum number of units which may be rendered efl'ective.

4. A carbureter comprising a closed casing having an inlet in the bottom, a floatcontrolled valve within the casing for opening'and closing said inlet, there being two series of registering openings distributed respectively in thetop walliand in the bottom. Wall of the casing, and independent carbureting units each extending into and secured in corresponding openings of both of said series, and each of said units having a port leading into the space within the chamber surrounding the units.

5. A carbureter comprising a casing, a series of independent tubular carbureting chambers extending through the casing, each of said carbureting chambers having a port leading; therefrom to the interior of the easing, said carbureting chambers being open at the top and at the bottom, and valves arranged in each of the carbureting chambers above and below the outlet end of the port to form the tops and bottoms of the chamners.

8. A carbureter comprising a casing closed at the top and at the bottom, there being two series of registering openings distributed respectively in the top wall and in the bottom-wall of the casing, open-ended tubular members extending vertically through the casing and each having its ends extending into corresponding openings of said series, ports extending through the walls of said tubular members between the ends thereof, and two valves within each of said tubular members, one of the valves being arranged above the aforesaid port and v the other below the port.

7. A carbureter comprising a casing closed at the top and at the bottom, there being two series of registering openings distributed respectively in the top Wall and in the bottom wall of the casing, open-ended tubular members extending. vertically through the casing and each having its ends 1 extending into corresponding openings of I said series, ports extending through the walls of said tubular members between the ends thereof, two valves within each of said tubular members, one of the valves being arranged above the aforesaid port and the other below the port, the space within the casing about said tubular members constitut ing a float chamber, and afloat controlled inlet valve arranged within said chamber.

8. A carbureter comprising a casing, the

top wall and the bottom wall of the casing having registering series of openings, tubular mixing members screw-threaded into the openings of one series and extending through the openings of the other series, each of said tubular members having a port leading from the interior thereof into the interior of said casing, and two valves in each of said members arranged respectively above and below the port therein? 9. A mixing unit for a carburetor com-v prising a sleeve or shellhaving a passage extending through the wall thereof between its ends, a valve stem extending longitudinally through the sleeve or shell, valves on said stem arranged respectively above and below said passage, and bearing members at the ends of the sleeve or shell for guiding comprising a tubular member having a port or passage extending through the side thereof between the ends, two valves supported within said member on-opposite sides of said port or passage, and the opening through said member varying gradually in cross-sectional area for a considerable distance adjacent to each of said valves.

7 12. A carbureting unit for carbureters comprising a chambered member having a port or passage extending through one side thereof at a point between the ends, two connected valves arranged within the chamber of said member above and below said port or passage, said chamber increasing grad ually in cross-sectional area for a considerable distance adjacent to each of said valves.

13. A carbureting unit for carbureters comprising a chambered member having a port or passage extending through one side thereof at a point between the ends, two connected valves arranged within the chamber of said member above and below said port or passage, said chamber increasing gradually in cross-sectional area for a considerable distance adjacent to each of said valves, the enlarged portions of the cham-. ber being similarly situated with respect to said valves.

.14. In a carbureter, a carbureting chamber open at the top and at the bottom, said chamber having a port or passage leading through the side at a point betweenthe top and bottom, two valves lying within said chamber above and below the port or passage and constituting the top and bottom of the chamber, said chamber increasing gradually in cross-sectional area for a considerable distance adjacent to each of the valves.

15. In a carbureter, a carbureting chamber open at the top and at the bottom, said chamber having a port or passage leading through the side thereof between the top and. bottom, twovalves lying within said chamber above and below the port or passage and constituting the top and bottom of the chamber, said chamber increasing gradually in cross-sectional area on corresponding sides of said valves.

16. In a carbureter, a carbureting chamber open at the top and at the bottom andhaving an inlet port or passage extending through the side at a point between the top and bottom, two valves carried upon a stem extending vertically through said chamberand forming the top and the bottom of said chamber, one of the valves being located above and the other valve below said port or passage, and said chamber increasing, gradually in cross-sectional area for some distance above each of said valves when the latter are in their lowermost position.

17. In a carbureter, a carbureting chamber open at the top and at the bottom and having an inlet port or passage extending through the side at a point between the top and bottom, two valves carried upon a stem extending vertically through said chamber and forming the top and the bottom of said chamber, one of the valves being located above and the other valve below said'port or passage, and said chamber increasing gradually in cross-sectional area for some distance above each of said valves when the latter are in their lowermost position, the

is opened.

uncovered as the valve is moved increase in cross-sectional area being more rapid adjacent to the upper valve than adjacent to the lower valve.

18. A carbureter having a chamber, a series of independent carbureting units connected to the opening between said chamber and the suction side of the carbureter as the valve 19. A carbureter having a chamber, a hollow valve fitting within said chamber and open at the lower end, saidvalve being movable lengthwise of the chamber, and a series of independent carbureting units. each connected to said chamber by an independent passage, the inlet ends of the passages -into the chamber being distributed lengthwise of the chamber,.said valve having a port in its side which is adapted to be covered by the wall of the chamber and to be out of the chamber.

20. A carbureter having a chamber, a hollow floating valve arranged in said chamber in the line of suction on the carbureter, said valve being open at its inner end and having a port in the side thereof near the outer end, and aseries of independent carbureting units connected to said chamber by independent passages, the inlet ends ofthe passages being distributed along the chamber in the direction of movement ofthe valve.

21. A carbureter having a chamber, a hollow floating valve arranged in said chamber in the 'line of suction on the carbureter, said valve being open at its inner end and having a port in the side thereof near the outer end, and a series of independent carburet ing units connected to said chamber by independent passages, the inlet ends of the passages being distributed along the chain ber in the direction of movement of the floating valve arranged in said chamber in the line of. suction on the carbureter, so as to be controlled by the suction, a series of carbureting units connected to-said chamber by independent passages, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the valve covers and uncovers said passages in succession and decreases and increases the size of.the opening between said' chamber. and. the suction side of the carbureter as the suction on the carbiireter decreases and in creases. a I

23. A carbureter having a chamber, a floating valvearranged in said chamber in the line of suction on the carbureter, so as to be controlled by the suction, a seriesof carbureting units connected to, said chamher by independent passages, the parts being so constructed. and arranged that the valve covers and uncovers said passages in succession and decreases and increases the size of the opening between said chamber and the suction side of the carbureter as the suction on the carbureter decreases and increases, and a manually controlled device for limiting the movement of the valve.

24. A carbureter having a chamber, a

of said port.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two Witnesses.

LEVI S. GARDNER.

- Witnesses:

W 31i F. FREUDENREICH, RUBY V. BRYDGES. 

